Can anyone tell me where you spliced into the cooling system to add a cab heater? Was also needing to figure out what size hose is on the machine.
The official install guides to a couple of kits I researched instruct you to splice into the coolant lines on both sides of the radiator. So inlet side on the hose going to the top of the radiator and the outlet on hose coming out of the bottom of the radiator. This I imagine will work OK but if you want maximum heat I would recommend splicing both inlet and outlet on the upper hose in series with the radiator. Not parallel like the instructions. I did this arrangement so the heater core gets first dibs on the hot coolant coming out of the engine, then it's passed to the radiator. By having it in parallel you give the coolant two paths to flow and if the radiator restricts less than the heater core, which I imagine it does, the radiator gets most of the flow leaving the remainder to the core.
The hose I.D. is 3/4" on the machine. Since the core took 5/8" I.D. I went with that and just hose clamped it down. It hasn't leaked and has worked just fine.
I also built a valve manifold so I could bypass the heater core in the summer and run it stock. In winter I send it through the heater core first. Depending on how cold it gets I recommend blocking the radiator partially or fully with cardboard to really allow the coolant to get up to temperature. Then your core turns into your radiator. Just depends on how cold your riding conditions are. Below is the link on the write up I did when I put together my own heater system last fall. It has worked great. Hope this helps.
P500 - Heater installed with Pictures
If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I'll try my best.
Good Luck.
The hose I.D. is 3/4" on the machine. Since the core took 5/8" I.D. I went with that and just hose clamped it down. It hasn't leaked and has worked just fine.
I also built a valve manifold so I could bypass the heater core in the summer and run it stock. In winter I send it through the heater core first. Depending on how cold it gets I recommend blocking the radiator partially or fully with cardboard to really allow the coolant to get up to temperature. Then your core turns into your radiator. Just depends on how cold your riding conditions are. Below is the link on the write up I did when I put together my own heater system last fall. It has worked great. Hope this helps.
P500 - Heater installed with Pictures
If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I'll try my best.
Good Luck.
Looking into different kits I found a thermostat bypass valve. This allows the heater to revive water before the thermostat opens allowing priority coolant flow to the heater. Valve is $100 but I think it would work very well. Thinking about just using the aqua-hot heater under the dash and this thermostat bypass valve. I have to do some measurements first to see if I can make it fit under the dash.
Finished my heater install today. Used the aqua hot mounted under the dash, a thermostat bypass that moves the thermostat into the radiator hose and a cable operated heater core bypass valve. One thing I was concerned about was if I had room for the heater mounted under the dash but it has plenty of room, no where near my feet or legs. One thing I like about it being inside the cab is it heats the cabin air not the outside air. I hope this helps it put out a little more heat. The thermostat bypass allows it to get water before the thermostat opens giving the heater priority over the radiator. I’ll try to add some pictures later.
Mudder
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